Noise control method and device

ABSTRACT

A noise control method and device are provided that relate to the field of noise control. A noise control method includes: acquiring noise information of an ambient environment; and judging whether the noise information satisfies a predetermined condition, and if so, sending a noise control message to another device, the noise control message being used to notify the other device to adjust a volume. Another noise control method includes: receiving, by a device, a noise control message from an external device; and adjusting a volume based on a volume adjustment policy according to the noise control message and a current volume of the device. The noise control method and device in the embodiments of the present application may easily and quickly realize control over ambient noise, thereby improving user experience.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of pending international patentcooperative treaty (PCT) application Ser. No. 15/117,166, filed on Aug.5, 2016, entitled “Noise Control Method and Device”, and now issued asU.S. Pat. No. 9,905,215, which claims the benefit of priority to ChinesePatent Application No. 201410085459.6, filed on Mar. 10, 2014, andentitled “Noise Control Method and Device”. The entireties of theaforementioned applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates to the field of noise controltechnologies, and in particular, to a noise control method and device.

BACKGROUND

Noise pollution is a problem that people often encounter in everydaylife. Generally, sounds that affect people's work, study and rest arecalled noise.

More and more electronic devices, while enriching people's everydaylife, also bring about new noise pollution problems. For example, when auser is having a rest in the bedroom, perhaps other family members arewatching TV in the living room, and at this time, if a sound that the TVset makes is too loud, the sound easily becomes noise, affecting theuser's rest. For another example, when a user is listening to musicthrough an audio system, at this time, the phone rings, and the useranswers the phone and finds that the sound of the audio system is tooloud, affecting the user's normal answering of the phone.

In the foregoing scenarios, the user often manually controls the volumekey of the TV set or the audio system to adjust a volume, and then noiseinterference may be avoided, which has cumbersome steps and poor userexperience.

SUMMARY

An example objective of the present application is to provide a noisecontrol method and device.

In a first example aspect, an embodiment of the present applicationprovides a noise control method, and the method includes:

acquiring noise information of an ambient environment; and

judging whether the noise information satisfies a predeterminedcondition, and if yes, sending a noise control message to other devices,the noise control message being configured to notify the other devicesto adjust a volume.

In a second example aspect, an embodiment of the present applicationprovides a noise control method, and the method includes:

receiving, by a device, a noise control message from an external device;and

adjusting a volume based on a volume adjustment policy according to thenoise control message and a current volume of the device.

In a third example aspect, an embodiment of the present applicationprovides a noise controlling device, and the device includes:

an acquisition module, configured to acquire noise information of anambient environment;

a judgment module, configured to judge whether the noise informationsatisfies a predetermined condition; and

a sending module, configured to send a noise control message to otherdevices if the noise information satisfies the predetermined condition,the noise control message being configured to notify the other devicesto adjust a volume.

In a fourth example aspect, an embodiment of the present applicationprovides a noise controlled device, and the device includes:

a receiving module, configured to receive a noise control message froman external device; and

an adjustment module, configured to adjust a volume based on a volumeadjustment policy according to the noise control message and a currentvolume of the device.

Noise control methods and devices in the embodiments of the presentapplication may easily and quickly realize control over ambient noise,thereby improving user experience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an example flowchart of a noise control method according to anembodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is an example flowchart of a noise control method in animplementation according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is an example flowchart of a noise control method according to anembodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is an example flowchart of step S340 in an implementationaccording to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is an example flowchart of step S341 a in an implementationaccording to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is an example flowchart of step S340 in an implementationaccording to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is an example flowchart of step S341 b in an implementationaccording to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is an example flowchart of step S340 in an implementationaccording to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is an example flowchart of step S341 c in an implementationaccording to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is an example flowchart of step S340 in an implementationaccording to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 11 is an example flowchart of step S340 in an implementationaccording to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 12 is an example flowchart of a noise control method in animplementation according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 13 is an example schematic structural diagram of a noisecontrolling device according to an embodiment of the presentapplication;

FIG. 14 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of anacquisition module in an implementation according to an embodiment ofthe present application;

FIG. 15 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of anacquisition module in an implementation according to an embodiment ofthe present application;

FIG. 16 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of anoise controlling device in an implementation according to an embodimentof the present application;

FIG. 17 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of anoise controlled device according to an embodiment of the presentapplication;

FIG. 18 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of anoise controlled device in an implementation according to an embodimentof the present application;

FIG. 19 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of anadjustment module in an implementation according to an embodiment of thepresent application;

FIG. 20 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of asecond unit in an implementation according to an embodiment of thepresent application;

FIG. 21 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of anadjustment module in an implementation according to an embodiment of thepresent application;

FIG. 22 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of anadjustment module in an implementation according to an embodiment of thepresent application;

FIG. 23 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of anadjustment module in an implementation according to an embodiment of thepresent application;

FIG. 24 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of anadjustment module in an implementation according to an embodiment of thepresent application;

FIG. 25 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of anoise controlled device in an implementation according to an embodimentof the present application;

FIG. 26 is an example structural diagram of a noise controlling deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present application; and

FIG. 27 is an example structural diagram of a noise controlled deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present application are further described in detailhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.The following embodiments are intended to describe the presentapplication, but not to limit the scope of the present application.

Those skilled in the art should understand that, in the embodiments ofthe present application, sequence numbers of steps do not mean an orderof execution, and the order of execution of the steps should bedetermined according to functions and internal logic thereof, but shouldnot pose any limitation to the implementation process of theimplementations of the present application.

In addition, the terms such as “first” and “second” in the embodimentsof the present application are merely used to distinguish differentsteps, devices or modules, which neither represent any specifictechnical meaning nor represent a necessary logical order between them.

The term “noise” in the present application refers to sounds that affectpeople's work, study and rest, which has relativity, for example, when auser makes a call, voices, music, whistles and the like around the usermay become noise.

During research, the inventor has found that, before a user enters intoa sound sensitive state, the user may often perform regular operationson a portable electronic device. For example, before going to bed, theuser may adjust the mobile phone to a silent mode. For another example,before answering the phone, the user may press the answer key.Therefore, according to the user's operating habits, the correspondingelectronic device (for example, a mobile phone) may previously know thatthe user will enter into a sound sensitive state, so as to notifysurrounding electronic devices which are making a sound to reduce thevolume in advance, thereby avoiding interference with the user.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a noise control method according to anembodiment of the present application; the method may be executed by,for example, a noise controlling device, as shown in FIG. 1, and themethod includes:

S120: acquiring noise information of an ambient environment; and

S140: judging whether the noise information satisfies a predeterminedcondition, and if yes, sending a noise control message to other devices,the noise control message being configured to notify the other devicesto adjust a volume.

According to the noise control method in the embodiment of the presentapplication, noise information is acquired from noise in an ambientenvironment, and in the case that the noise information satisfies apredetermined condition, the noise control message is automatically sentto other devices, so as to notify the other devices to adjust a volume,thereby easily and quickly realizing control over ambient noise andimproving user experience.

Functions of the steps S120 and S140 are described below in detail.

In an example implementation, in the step S120, the noise informationincludes: a noise intensity value. The noise intensity value refers toinformation that can reflect intensity of noise in an ambientenvironment, for example, it may be a noise sound pressure level, anoise signal intensity, or the like.

In an example implementation, in the step S140, the satisfying apredetermined condition includes that: the noise intensity value isgreater than a predetermined threshold. The predetermined threshold maybe set by a user, for example, a setting interface is output, and thepredetermined threshold is set according to an input value of the user.Alternatively, the predetermined threshold may be automatically setaccording to the user's current sensitivity to noise, for example, whenthe user adjusts a mobile phone to a silent mode, it indicates that theuser may want to sleep next, and the predetermined threshold isautomatically set to 10 dB; when the user presses an answer key of amobile phone, the predetermined threshold is automatically set to 20 dB.

In the present application, the adjusting the volume mainly meansadjusting the volume from high to low; the present application does notdefine the specific adjustment manner, for example, the adjustment maybe made by performing filtering on an output end, and the adjustment mayalso be made by modifying a volume value in an audio signal.

In an example implementation, the other devices that receive the noisecontrol message may reduce their volume upon receipt of the noisecontrol message, for example, each device reduces the volume by 10 dBeach time. The implementation is mainly applicable to a situation wherethere are a small number of the other devices, for example, in theuser's home, in addition to the mobile phone, only a TV set may producenoise impacts on the user. Through presetting, the TV set mayautomatically reduce the volume by 10 dB each time it receives the noisecontrol message sent by the mobile phone. The reducing the volume in thepresent application includes reducing the volume to 0 dB, that is, thedevices are shut down or muted.

In an example implementation, the other devices may be a plurality ofseparate sounding devices, and in the step S140, preferably, the noisecontrol message is sent to the other devices through broadcasting. Inthis case, because the current volume of respective sounding devices anddistances from the sounding devices to a sender of the noise controlmessage are not completely the same, noise impacts caused by somesounding devices are great, while noise impacts caused by some soundingdevices are small, it is not reasonable to let all sounding deviceslower the volume by the same level, for example, some sounding deviceshave low volume and small noise impacts, and they may be muted after thevolume is lowered, affecting normal use of other users. In this case, ifcorresponding information is transmitted to the other devices throughthe noise control message, the other devices may decide how much thevolume is lowered according to their own situations, thereby furtherimproving user experience.

In an example implementation, the noise control message may include: thenoise intensity value, the predetermined threshold and a transmit powervalue of the noise control message.

In an example implementation, the noise control message may include: thenoise intensity value, the predetermined threshold and positioninformation of a sender of the noise control message.

In an example implementation, the noise control message may include: thenoise intensity value, the predetermined threshold, noise samplinginformation and a corresponding sampling time. The noise samplinginformation and the sampling time may be acquired during acquisition ofthe noise information, that is to say, the noise information acquiredfrom the noise of the ambient environment includes the noise samplinginformation and the sampling time. The noise sampling information may bean original noise sampling fragment or a processed noise samplingfeature.

How the other devices use information included in the noise controlmessage to adjust a volume will be described hereinafter, which is notrepeated herein.

The noise information in the present application may be noiseinformation corresponding to all collected sound frequencies. Inaddition, in another example implementation, the noise information mayalso be noise information of some specific sound frequency intervals,that is, noise information of at least one sound frequency interval. Theimplementation is mainly applicable to a situation where the user isrelatively sensitive to noise in a specific sound frequency interval,for example, when the user is thinking, in terms of voices of characterdialogues from a TV set and music from an audio system, the user may bemore sensitive to the voices of dialogues. Therefore, the mobile phoneof the user may acquire noise information of a sound frequency interval(for example, 300 HZ to 3400 HZ) corresponding to the voices ofcharacter dialogues from the noise of the ambient environment accordingto the user's habits, and then judgment and message sending tasks in thestep S140 are executed.

In addition, in another example implementation, the sound frequencyinterval may be set by the user; as shown in FIG. 2, the method mayfurther include:

S110: setting at least one sound frequency interval according to userinput.

In addition, the embodiments of the present application also provide acomputer readable medium, comprising computer readable instructionswhich perform the following operations when being executed: executingthe operations of steps S120 and S140 of the method in the exampleimplementation shown in FIG. 1.

To sum up, according to the noise control method in the exampleimplementation, judgment may be made according to noise information ofan ambient environment, the noise control message is sent to otherdevices if the adjustment is satisfied, and corresponding informationmay be transmitted through the noise control message, so that the otherdevices make out a volume adjustment policy according to their ownsituations, thereby simplifying noise control steps and improving userexperience.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a noise control method according to anotherembodiment of the present application; the method may be executed by,for example, a noise controlled device, as shown in FIG. 3, and themethod includes:

S320: receiving, by the device, a noise control message from an externaldevice; and

S340: adjusting a volume based on a volume adjustment policy accordingto the noise control message and a current volume of the device.

According to the method in this embodiment, a noise control message isreceived from an external device, and a volume is adjusted based on avolume adjustment policy according to the noise control message and acurrent volume of the device, so that the volume may be adjustedautomatically according to a request from the external device, therebyreducing noise output, simplifying noise control steps, and improvinguser experience.

Functions of the steps S320 and S340 are described below in detail.

In an example implementation, in the step S320, the noise controlmessage sent by the external device may be received wirelessly, so as tobe convenient for the user to move a sender device of the message.

In an example implementation, the noise control message includes: anoise intensity value, a predetermined threshold and a transmit powervalue of the noise control message. Moreover, referring to FIG. 4, thestep S340 includes:

S341 a: determining a target volume according to the noise intensityvalue, the predetermined threshold, the current volume, the transmitpower value and received signal intensity of the noise control message;and

S342 a: adjusting the volume according to the target volume.

The target volume in the present application is a target value afteradjustment of the volume. In the step S342 a, the volume may be directlyadjusted to the target volume.

Specifically, in an example implementation, referring to FIG. 5, thestep S341 a may include:

S3411 a: obtaining a wireless signal attenuation value according to thetransmit power value and the received signal intensity;

S3412 a: obtaining a first sub-noise intensity value in the noiseintensity value according to the wireless signal attenuation value andthe current volume;

S3413 a: obtaining a second sub-noise intensity value according to thenoise intensity value and the first sub-noise intensity value; and

S3414 a: determining the target volume according to the predeterminedthreshold, the first sub-noise intensity value, the second sub-noiseintensity value and the current volume.

In an example implementation, the step S3412 a may include:

S34121 a: determining an intermediate parameter according to thewireless signal attenuation value, where the intermediate parameter maybe a parameter capable of associating the wireless signal attenuationvalue and a sound signal attenuation value, for example, theintermediate parameter may be a distance; and

S34122 a: obtaining the first sub-noise intensity value in the noiseintensity value according to the intermediate parameter and the currentvolume.

In the present application, the noise intensity value may include: anoise sound pressure level or a noise signal intensity, which reflectsinformation of intensity of noise at the external device. The firstsub-noise intensity value reflects a contribution value of a soundoutput by a current noise source (that is, a current sounding device)for intensity of noise at the external device; the second sub-noiseintensity value reflects a contribution value of a sound output byanother noise source (that is, another sounding device) for theintensity of the noise at the external device. Correspondingly, when thenoise intensity value is the noise sound pressure level, the firstsub-noise intensity value is a first sub-noise sound pressure level, andthe second sub-noise intensity value is a second sub-noise soundpressure level; when the noise intensity value is the noise signalintensity, the first sub-noise intensity value is a first sub-noisesignal intensity, and the second sub-noise intensity value is a secondsub-noise signal intensity. For the sake of simplicity, the followingdescription is given merely by illustrating the situation where thenoise intensity value is the noise sound pressure level.

Suppose that the transmit power value of the noise control message isLt, the received signal intensity of the noise control message is Lr,the current volume is Lc, the noise sound pressure level at the externaldevice is Lp₀, and the predetermined threshold is Lp.

The wireless signal attenuation value Ld₁ may be obtained according tothe step S3411 a:Ld ₁ =Lt−Lr.

For the sake of simplicity, it is considered that attenuation of awireless signal is merely related to a propagation distance of thesignal, and suppose that the propagation distance of the signal and anattenuation value of the wireless signal have a first functionrelationship therebetween, a distance D between the device and theexternal device may be obtained according to the step S34121 a:D=f ₁(Ld ₁);

where f₁ denotes the first function relationship.

For the sake of simplicity, it is considered that attenuation of a soundis merely related to a propagation distance of the sound, and supposethat an attenuation value of the sound and the propagation distancethereof have a second function relationship therebetween, an attenuationvalue Ld₂ of the sound after passing through the distance may beobtained according to the step S34122 a:Ld ₂ =f ₂(D);

where f₂ denotes the second function relationship.

Further, according to the current volume, the first sub-noise soundpressure level Lp₁ at the external device may be obtained:Lp ₁ =Lc−Ld ₂;

in the step S3413 a, suppose that the second sub-noise sound pressurelevel is Lp₂, there is a formula according to sound intensitysuperposition:

${{Lp}_{0} = {10 \times {\lg\left( {10^{\frac{{Lp}_{1}}{10}} + 10^{\frac{{Lp}_{2}}{10}}} \right)}}};$

Lp₂ may be obtained through calculation according to the formula.

In the step S3414 a, first suppose that other noise sources may notadjust the volume and also suppose that the first sub-noise soundpressure level after adjustment of the volume is Lp₁′, according to thepredetermined threshold Lp and the second sub-noise sound pressure levelLp₂, there is a formula according to sound intensity superposition:

${{Lp} = {10 \times {\lg\left( {10^{\frac{{Lp}_{1}}{10}} + 10^{\frac{{Lp}_{2}}{10}}} \right)}}};$

Lp₁′ may be obtained through calculation according to the formula.

Further, the target volume La may be obtained according to the currentvolume Lc and the first sub-noise sound pressure levels Lp₁ and Lp₁′before and after adjustment of the volume:La=Lc−(Lp ₁ −Lp ₁′).

Those skilled in the art should understand that, in the step S3414 a, indetermination of the target volume, it may also be assumed that theother noise sources may adjust the volume, for example, it may beassumed that the second sub-noise sound pressure level after adjustmentof the other noise sources is Lp₂′=Lp₂×50%.

In an example implementation, the noise control message includes: anoise intensity value, a predetermined threshold and positioninformation. The position information is position information of theexternal device. Moreover, referring to FIG. 6, the step S340 includes:

S341 b: determining a target volume according to the noise intensityvalue, the predetermined threshold, the current volume, and the positioninformation; and

S342 b: adjusting the volume according to the target volume.

Specifically, referring to FIG. 7, in an implementation, the step S341 bmay include:

S3411 b: determining a distance according to the position information;

S3412 b: obtaining a first sub-noise intensity value in the noiseintensity value according to the distance and the current volume;

S3413 b: obtaining a second sub-noise intensity value according to thenoise intensity value and the first sub-noise intensity value; and

S3414 b: determining the target volume according to the predeterminedthreshold, the first sub-noise intensity value, the second sub-noiseintensity value and the current volume.

In the step S3411 b, the distance is a distance between the device andthe external device. The current sounding source (the device) mayacquire its own position information through indoor positioning or othertechnologies, and a distance between the current sounding source and theexternal device may be obtained in combination with position informationof the external device.

The example implementation process of the steps S3412 b-S3414 b issimilar to that of the steps S3412 a, S3413 a and S3414 a in theprevious example implementation, which is not repeated herein.

In an example implementation, the noise control message includes: anoise intensity value, a predetermined threshold, noise samplinginformation and a corresponding sampling time. Moreover, referring toFIG. 8, the step S340 includes:

S341 c: determining a target volume according to the noise intensityvalue, the predetermined threshold, the current volume, the noisesampling information and the sampling time; and

S342 c: adjusting the volume according to the target volume.

Specifically, in an example implementation, referring to FIG. 9, thestep S341 c may include:

S3411 c: matching the noise sampling information with a sound outputrecord of the device, to determine a sounding time of the noise samplinginformation;

S3412 c: determining a distance according to a time difference betweenthe sampling time and the sounding time;

S3413 c: obtaining a first sub-noise intensity value in the noiseintensity value according to the distance and the current volume;

S3414 c: obtaining a second sub-noise intensity value according to thenoise intensity value and the first sub-noise intensity value; and

S3415 c: determining the target volume according to the predeterminedthreshold, the first sub-noise intensity value, the second sub-noiseintensity value and the current volume.

In the step S3411 c, the noise sampling information may be a recordingof ambient noise, that is, a noise sampling fragment, and may also be anoise sampling feature (such as a spectral feature) obtained throughextraction after processing on the noise sampling fragment. For the sakeof simplicity, the following description about the step S3411 c ismerely based on the situation where the noise sampling information is anoise sampling fragment (when the noise sampling information is a noisesampling feature, the following steps a and b may be omitted duringprocessing on the noise sampling information).

In an example implementation, the step S3411 c may include:

a) dividing an audio signal to be processed into a plurality of frames;

b) extracting features of audio signals of each frame, the featuresinclude, but are not limited to, Fourier coefficients, Mel-frequencyCepstral Coefficients (MFCCs), spectral flatness, spectral sharpness,Linear Predictive Coding coefficients and the like;

c) compressing the extracted features by using a classificationalgorithm, to form a sub-fingerprint corresponding to each frame;

d) taking the noise sampling information as the audio signal to beprocessed to execute the steps a-c, to obtain a plurality ofsub-fingerprints corresponding to the noise sampling information, theplurality of sub-fingerprints forming a fingerprint block; and taking asound output of the device as the audio signal to be processed toexecute the steps a-c, to obtain a plurality of sub-fingerprintscorresponding to the sound output, the plurality of sub-fingerprintsforming a fingerprint stream; and

e) comparing similarity between different parts of the fingerprint blockand the fingerprint stream, so as to judge whether they match eachother; when the similarity is greater than a predetermined value, it maybe considered that they match each other, and a sounding time of thenoise sampling information may be obtained in the case that they matcheach other.

Reference may be made to Jaap Haitsma and Antonius Kalker et al.'s Paper“A Highly Robust Audio Fingerprinting System”, International Symposiumon Music Information Retrieval (ISMIR) 2002, pp. 107-115, for exampleimplementation of the steps a-e. This is not the focus of the presentapplication, and is not repeated herein.

In the step S3412 c, the distance is a distance between the device andthe external device. A time difference may be obtained according to thesampling time and the sounding time, and then a distance between thedevice and the external device may be obtained in combination with apropagation speed of the sound in the air.

The example implementation process of the steps S3413 c-S3415 c issimilar to that of the steps S3412 b-S3414 b in the previous exampleimplementation, which is not repeated herein.

Referring to FIG. 10, in an example implementation, the step S340includes:

S341 d: determining a step length according to the noise control messageand a current volume of the device; and

S342 d: adjusting the volume according to the step length.

In order to better implement the method in the example implementation,the method in the implementation may be executed cyclically, that is,each time the noise control message is received, the step S340 isexecuted once, until the noise control message is no longer received.The step length may be a fixed value, and may also be a non-fixed value.The step length may be set with reference to the current volume, forexample, when the current volume is great, a large step length is set,and when the current volume is small, a small step length is set.

For example, when the noise control message is received for the firsttime, the current volume is 80 dB, the step length is determined to be−20 dB, and the adjusted volume is 60 dB; when the noise control messageis received for the second time, the current volume is 60 dB, the steplength is determined to be −8 dB, and the adjusted volume is 52 dB; whenthe noise control message is received for the third time, the currentvolume is 52 dB, the step length is determined to be −5 dB, and theadjusted volume is 47 dB.

Referring to FIG. 11, in an example implementation, the step S340includes:

S341 e: determining a volume interval according to the noise controlmessage and a current volume of the device; and

S342 e: controlling the volume to be within the volume interval.

In the example implementation, reference may be made to a predeterminedproportion of the current volume for determination of the volumeinterval, for example, an upper limit of the volume interval may be setto 50% of the current volume, a lower limit is set to 0, and supposethat the current volume is 80 dB, the volume interval determined in thestep S341 e is [40, 0].

According to the method in the example implementation, merely outputvolume of an audio signal beyond a volume interval may be adjusted, soas to avoid the situation where the output volume of a part with asmaller volume value in the audio signal is 0 after adjustment to resultin that other uses cannot hear totally.

In consideration of demands for saving energy, the method does not needto be executed all the time after a device has been turned on, but onlyneeds to be executed when the device is in a sounding state. Therefore,referring to FIG. 12, in another example implementation of the presentapplication, the method further includes:

S310: judging whether the device is making a sound, and if the device ismaking a sound, performing the step of receiving a noise control messagefrom the external.

In addition, the embodiments of the present application also provide acomputer readable medium, comprising computer readable instructionswhich perform the following operations when being executed: executingthe operations of steps S320 and S340 of the method in the exampleimplementation shown in FIG. 3.

To sum up, according to the noise control method in this embodiment,after a noise control message is received, a target volume, a steplength or a volume interval may be determined according to relatedinformation in the message and the current volume of the device, andthen corresponding volume adjustment is made, so as to easily andquickly realize control over ambient noise, thereby improving userexperience.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a modular structure of a noisecontrolling device according to an embodiment of the presentapplication. The noise controlling device may generally be a devicecarried by a user, for example, a smart phone, a smart watch, smartglasses, a smart ring, or other devices. The devices are carried by theuser, noise information acquired by the devices is closer to noise thatthe user feels with ears.

As shown in FIG. 13, the device 1300 includes:

an acquisition module 1310, configured to acquire noise information ofan ambient environment;

a judgment module 1320, configured to judge whether the noiseinformation satisfies a predetermined condition; and

a sending module 1330, configured to send a noise control message toother devices if the noise information satisfies the predeterminedcondition, the noise control message being configured to notify theother devices to adjust a volume.

Referring to FIG. 14, in an example implementation, the noiseinformation includes: a noise intensity value. The noise intensity valuerefers to information that may reflect intensity of noise in an ambientenvironment, for example, it may be a noise sound pressure level, anoise signal intensity, or the like. In the example implementation, theacquisition module 1310 includes:

a first acquisition unit 1311, configured to acquire a noise intensityvalue of the ambient environment.

In an example implementation, the satisfying a predetermined conditionincludes that: the noise intensity value is greater than a predeterminedthreshold.

In an example implementation, the noise control message may include: thenoise intensity value, the predetermined threshold and a transmit powervalue of the noise control message.

In an example implementation, the noise control message may include: thenoise intensity value, the predetermined threshold and positioninformation of a sender of the noise control message.

In an example implementation, the noise control message may include: thenoise intensity value, the predetermined threshold, noise samplinginformation and a corresponding sampling time. The noise samplinginformation and the sampling time may be acquired during acquisition ofthe noise information, that is to say, the noise information acquiredfrom the noise of the ambient environment includes the noise samplinginformation and the sampling time. Referring to FIG. 15, in the exampleimplementation, the acquisition module 1310 may further include:

a second acquisition unit 1312, configured to acquire noise samplinginformation and a corresponding sampling time from noise of the ambientenvironment.

The noise information in the present application may be noiseinformation corresponding to all collected sound frequencies. Inaddition, in another example implementation, the noise information mayalso be noise information of some specific sound frequency intervals,that is, noise information of at least one sound frequency interval.Referring to FIG. 16, in the example implementation, the device 1300 mayfurther include:

a setting module 1340, configured to set at least one sound frequencyinterval according to user input, the noise information being noiseinformation of at least one sound frequency interval.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of a modular structure of a noisecontrolled device according to an embodiment of the present application;the noise controlled device may be, for example, a TV set, an audiodevice, a game console, a personal computer, a mobile phone and otherdevices that may make a loud sound.

Referring to FIG. 17, the controlled device 1700 may include:

a receiving module 1710, configured to receive a noise control messagefrom an external device; and

an adjustment module 1720, configured to adjust a volume based on avolume adjustment policy according to the noise control message and acurrent volume of the device.

The external refers to an external device.

Referring to FIG. 18, in an example implementation, the device 1700further includes:

a message processing module 1730, configured to extract a noiseintensity value and a predetermined threshold from the noise controlmessage.

In an example implementation, the message processing module 1730 isfurther configured to extract a transmit power value of the noisecontrol message from the noise control message.

Referring to FIG. 19, in the example implementation, the adjustmentmodule 1720 may include:

a target volume determination sub-module 1721 a, configured to determinea target volume according to the noise intensity value, thepredetermined threshold, the current volume, the transmit power valueand received signal intensity of the noise control message; and;

an adjustment sub-module 1722 a, configured to adjust the volumeaccording to the target volume.

The target volume determination sub-module 1721 a may include:

a first unit 17211 a, configured to obtain a wireless signal attenuationvalue according to the transmit power value and the received signalintensity;

a second unit 17212 a, configured to obtain a first sub-noise intensityvalue in the noise intensity value according to the wireless signalattenuation value and the current volume;

a third unit 17213 a, configured to obtain a second sub-noise intensityvalue according to the noise intensity value and the first sub-noiseintensity value; and

a fourth unit 17214 a, configured to determine the target volumeaccording to the predetermined threshold, the first sub-noise intensityvalue, the second sub-noise intensity value and the current volume.

Referring to FIG. 20, the second unit 17212 a may include:

an intermediate parameter determination sub-unit 172121 a, configured todetermine an intermediate parameter according to the wireless signalattenuation value; and

a first sub-noise intensity value sub-unit 172122 a, configured toobtain the first sub-noise intensity value in the noise intensity valueaccording to the intermediate parameter and the current volume.

In an example implementation, the message processing module 1730 isfurther configured to extract position information from the noisecontrol message. The position information is position information of theexternal device.

Referring to FIG. 21, in the example implementation, the adjustmentmodule 1720 may include:

a target volume determination sub-module 1721 b, configured to determinea target volume according to the noise intensity value, thepredetermined threshold, the current volume and the positioninformation; and

an adjustment sub-module 1722 b, configured to adjust the volumeaccording to the target volume.

The target volume determination sub-module may include:

a first unit 17211 b, configured to determine a distance according tothe position information;

a second unit 17212 b, configured to obtain a first sub-noise intensityvalue in the noise intensity value according to the distance and thecurrent volume;

a third unit 17213 b, configured to obtain a second sub-noise intensityvalue according to the noise intensity value and the first sub-noiseintensity value; and

a fourth unit 17214 b, configured to determine the target volumeaccording to the predetermined threshold, the first sub-noise intensityvalue, the second sub-noise intensity value and the current volume.

In an example implementation, the message processing module 1730 isfurther configured to extract noise sampling information and acorresponding sampling time from the noise control message.

Referring to FIG. 22, in the example implementation, the adjustmentmodule 1720 includes:

a target volume determination sub-module 1721 c, configured to determinea target volume according to the noise intensity value, thepredetermined threshold, the current volume, the noise samplinginformation and the sampling time; and an adjustment sub-module 1722 c,configured to adjust the volume according to the target volume.

The target volume determination sub-module includes:

a first unit 17211 c, configured to match the noise sampling informationwith a sound output record of the device, to determine a sounding timeof the noise sampling information;

a second unit 17212 c, configured to determine a distance according to atime difference between the sampling time and the sounding time;

a third unit 17213 c, configured to obtain a first sub-noise intensityvalue in the noise intensity value according to the distance and thecurrent volume;

a fourth unit 17214 c, configured to obtain a second sub-noise intensityvalue according to the noise intensity value and the first sub-noiseintensity value; and

a fifth unit 17215 c, configured to determine the target volumeaccording to the predetermined threshold, the first sub-noise intensityvalue, the second sub-noise intensity value and the current volume.

Referring to FIG. 23, in an example implementation, the adjustmentmodule 1720 includes:

a step length determination sub-module 1721 d, configured to determine astep length according to the noise control message and a current volumeof the device; and

an adjustment sub-module 1722 d, configured to adjust the volumeaccording to the step length.

Referring to FIG. 24, in an example implementation, the adjustmentmodule 1720 includes:

a volume interval determination sub-module 1721 e, configured todetermine a volume interval according to the noise control message and acurrent volume of the device; and

an adjustment sub-module 1722 e, configured to control the volume to bewithin the volume interval.

In consideration of demands for saving energy, the device does not needto operate all the time after the device has been turned on, but onlyneeds to operate when the device is in a sounding state. Referring toFIG. 25, in another example implementation, the device 1700 may furtherinclude:

a judgment module 1740, configured to judge whether the device is makinga sound, and if it is making a sound, enable the receiving module.

The structure of the noise controlling device according to oneembodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. 26. The specificembodiment of the present application does not limit specificimplementation of the noise controlling device; referring to FIG. 26,the noise controlling device 2600 may include:

a processor 2610, a communications interface 2620, a memory 2630, and acommunications bus 2640.

The processor 2610, the communications interface 2620, and the memory2630 implement mutual communications via the communications bus 2640.

The communications interface 2620 is configured to communicate withanother network element.

The processor 2610 is configured to execute a program 2632, and mayspecifically implement relevant steps in the process embodiment shown inFIG. 9.

Specifically, the program 2632 may include a program code, the programcode including a computer operation instruction.

The processor 2610 may be a central processing unit (CPU), or anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or be configured to beone or more integrated circuits which implement the embodiments of thepresent application.

The memory 2630 is configured to store the program 2632. The memory 2630may include a high-speed RAM memory, and may also include a non-volatilememory, for example, at least one magnetic disk memory. The program 2632may specifically execute the following steps:

acquiring noise information of an ambient environment; and

judging whether the noise information satisfies a predeterminedcondition, and if yes, sending a noise control message to other devices,the noise control message being configured to notify the other devicesto adjust a volume.

Reference may be made to the corresponding steps or modules in theforegoing embodiments for specific implementation of each step in theprogram 2632, which is not repeated herein. Those skilled in the art mayclearly understand that, reference may be made to the correspondingdescription in the foregoing process embodiments for the particularworking procedures of the devices and modules described above, and willnot be repeated herein in order to make the description convenient andconcise.

The structure of a noise controlled device according to an embodiment ofthe present application is shown in FIG. 27. The specific embodiment ofthe present application does not limit specific implementation of thenoise controlled device; referring to FIG. 27, the noise controlleddevice 2700 may include:

a processor 2710, a communications interface 2720, a memory 2730, and acommunications bus 2740.

The processor 2710, the communications interface 2720, and the memory2730 implement mutual communications via the communications bus 2740.

The communications interface 2720 is configured to communicate withanother network element.

The processor 2710 is configured to execute a program 2732, and mayspecifically implement relevant steps in the process embodiments shownin FIG. 1 to FIG. 12.

Specifically, the program 2732 may include a program code, the programcode include a computer operation instruction.

The processor 2710 may be a central processing unit (CPU), or anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or be configured to beone or more integrated circuits which implement the embodiments of thepresent application.

The memory 2730 is configured to store the program 2732. The memory 2730may include a high-speed RAM memory, and may also include a non-volatilememory, for example, at least one magnetic disk memory. The program 2732may specifically execute the following steps:

receiving, by a device, a noise control message from an external device;and

adjusting a volume based on a volume adjustment policy according to thenoise control message and a current volume of the device.

Reference may be made to the corresponding steps or modules in theforegoing embodiments for specific implementation of each step in theprogram 2732, which is not repeated herein. Those skilled in the art mayclearly understand that, reference may be made to the correspondingdescription in the foregoing process embodiments for the particularworking procedures of the devices and modules described above, and willnot be repeated herein in order to make the description convenient andconcise.

It may be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that eachexemplary unit and method step described with reference to theembodiments disclosed herein may be implemented by electronic hardwareor a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whetherthese functions are executed in a hardware mode or a software modedepends on particular applications and design constraint conditions ofthe technical solution. The professional technicians may use differentmethods to implement the functions described with respect to eachparticular application, but such implementation should not be consideredto go beyond the scope of the present application.

If the functions are implemented in the form of a software functionalunit and is sold or used as an independent product, it may be stored ina computer-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, thetechnical solution of the present application essentially or the partwhich contributes to the prior art or a part of the technical solutionmay be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computersoftware product is stored in a storage medium, and includes severalinstructions for enabling a computer device (which may be a personalcomputer, a controller, a network device, or the like) to execute all orsome steps of the method described in each embodiment of the presentapplication. The foregoing storage medium includes various media whichmay store a program code, such as a USB disk, a mobile hard disk, aread-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk,an optical disc, or the like.

The above embodiments are merely used to describe the presentapplication, instead of limiting the present application; variousalterations and variants may be made by those of ordinary skill in theart without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentapplication, so all equivalent technical solutions also belong to thescope of the present application, and the scope of patent protection ofthe present application should be defined by claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: acquiring, by a device comprising a processor, noise information of an ambient environment, wherein the noise information comprises noise sampling information and a corresponding sampling time, and wherein the noise sampling information is sampled from a specific sound frequency interval in which a user has a defined sensitivity to noise; and judging whether the noise information satisfies a predetermined condition, and in response to the noise information satisfying the predetermined condition, sending a noise control message to another device, wherein the noise control message comprises a noise intensity value, a predetermined threshold and position information of a sender of the noise control message; the noise control message being configured to notify the other device to make a volume adjustment policy based on the noise intensity value, the predetermined threshold and the position information of the sender of the noise control message.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the noise information comprises: the noise intensity value.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the predetermined condition being satisfied comprises the noise intensity value being determined to be greater than a predetermined threshold.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the noise control message further comprises: a transmit power value of the noise control message.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the noise control message further comprises: the noise sampling information and the corresponding sampling time.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the noise intensity value comprises: a noise sound pressure level or a noise signal intensity.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the noise information is noise information of a plurality of sound frequency intervals.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: setting the predetermined threshold according to user input that comprises a value that specifies the predetermined threshold.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending the noise control message to the other device comprises: broadcasting the noise control message to the other device.
 10. A device, comprising: a processor; and a memory, coupled to a processor, that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising: acquiring noise information of an ambient environment, wherein the noise information comprises noise sampling information and a corresponding sampling time, and wherein the noise sampling information is sampled from a specific sound frequency interval in which a user has a defined sensitivity to noise; determining whether the noise information satisfies a predetermined condition; and sending a noise control message to other devices in response to the noise information being determined to satisfy the predetermined condition, wherein the noise control message comprises a noise intensity value, a predetermined threshold and position information of a sender of the noise control message, the noise control message being configured to notify the other devices to make a volume adjustment policy based on the noise intensity value, the predetermined threshold and the position information of the sender of the noise control message.
 11. The device of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprises acquiring the noise intensity value of the ambient environment.
 12. The device of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise setting the predetermined threshold according to user input.
 13. A computer readable storage device, comprising at least one executable instruction, which, in response to execution, causes a device comprising a processor to perform operations, comprising: acquiring noise information of an ambient environment, wherein the noise information comprises noise sampling information and a corresponding sampling time, and wherein the noise sampling information is sampled from a specific sound frequency interval in which a user has a defined sensitivity to noise; and in response to determining that the noise information satisfies a predetermined condition, sending a noise control message to another device, wherein the noise control message comprises a noise intensity value, a predetermined threshold and position information of a sender of the noise control message; the noise control message being configured to notify the other device to make a volume adjustment policy based on the noise intensity value, the predetermined threshold and the position information of the sender of the noise control message.
 14. The computer readable storage device of claim 13, wherein the noise information comprises: the noise intensity value.
 15. The computer readable storage device of claim 14, wherein the predetermined condition being satisfied comprises the noise intensity value being determined to be greater than a predetermined threshold.
 16. The computer readable storage device of claim 13, wherein the noise control message further comprises: the noise sampling information and the corresponding sampling time.
 17. The computer readable storage device of claim 13, wherein the noise intensity value comprises: a noise sound pressure level or a noise signal intensity.
 18. The computer readable storage device of claim 13, wherein the noise control message further comprises: a transmit power value of the noise control message.
 19. The computer readable storage device of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise modifying the predetermined threshold in response to an action that answers a voice communication directed to the device. 